Albany city commissioner accused of not paying bill at Hilton

An Albany city commissioner is accused of leaving a local hotel with an $11,000 catering and events bill.

After renting out services and space for the Albany Area Black Expo, the Hilton Garden Inn is suing the event's coordinator, Christopher Pike, over $11, 253.33 in unpaid funds.

Pike says he's not something taking the lawsuit lightly, but it's going to take time to pay out the funds.

He says sponsorship money donated from companies like Miller Coors, AT&T and Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital went towards paying for portions of the five day event that had to be paid for upfront.

"We did have other events that we had already paid dead on. The figure that they have wasn't the totality of the event that we did at the Hilton for the expo," says Albany Area Black Expo Coordinator and City Commissioner Chris Pike.

The businessman says it took twenty to twenty five thousand dollars to fund the event. He says he was relying on ticket sales to make up for the remainder of bills but the money didn't come in as planned for.

Now those with the Hilton Garden Inn want their money.

FOX 31 reached out to representatives from the hotel with no reply.

In a public document Linda Davis, the plaintiff, states, "To this date he has failed to pay. Numerous attempts have been made to contact him and all messages have gone unanswered."

Pike says he's trying to deal with the debt.

"We were not able to come to an agreement on the terms as far as paying back and getting the money in a timely manner, so it was their option to move forward with this," says Chris Pike.

Pike says he takes responsibility for the financial situation and although it may take some time, he's working to resolve the issue and pay back the money.